Do you know you are dealing with politics as an FP&A Analyst?
Image by Hansjörg Keller via Unsplash
Politics means people only do what’s best for themselves.
Here are 3 common issues and what to do in each situation:
Issue #1: The sales forecast is consistently too low
Solution: Explain why forecast accuracy matters, add a goal for forecast accuracy, and make sure there is no actual or implied punishment for coming in lower than the forecast
Issue #2: Business partners aren’t involving you in the decision-making process
Solution: Work on building trust and demonstrate that your goals align with theirs
Issue #3: People build large buffers in the budget that are spent at the last minute on low ROI initiatives.
Solution: Don’t build the next period’s budget by matching the prior year’s spending. That creates incentives that lead to bad behavior. Ensure the business that high ROI projects always get priority when allocating budgets.
If you struggle with any of the things I have written about, I offer help in two ways:
If you’d like to learn more about FP&A, I offer help in three ways:
1️⃣ Subscribe to my free newsletter “FP&A Tuesday” here.
2️⃣ Listen to 75 bite-sized mini lessons and get FP&A advice on the go.
3️⃣ Join my live online course FP&A Bootcamp to master FP&A in two weeks.
